Effects of the heating rate on the microstructure and the thermal stability of FeCoNbB(Cu) nanocrystalline alloys

The size of the crystalline nanograins and the thermal stability of nanocrystalline FeCoNbB(Cu) alloys decrease as the heating rate at which the nanocrystalline microstructure is developed increases. Mössbauer experiments performed at room and high temperatures (473 and 673 K) show no differences in the crystalline contribution of samples prepared at different heating rates, although a slight decrease of the average hyperfine fields assigned to the interface contribution is detected for samples nanocrystallized at a higher heating rate.